No. 18 Castle StreetPaul Bennett & Dennis Nebiker

In late March 1989 a record of archaeological levels exposed in
trench cut at the rear of no. 18 Castle Street was made by Dennis
Nebiker. The trenches cut by workmen to form a single storey extension
to the premises were remarkable, not for their archaeological content,
but for their depth, this being in excess of the proposed height of the
future building. Further still, the disturbed nature of the garden
deposits and the wet weather conditions prevailing at the time of
foundation cutting led to considerable collapse of trench edges which
made detailed investigation of the archaeological levels impossible. As
a consequence an opportunity to record interesting deposits and features
was effectively lost.

Despite these difficulties, a complex sequence of intercutting
medieval and post-medieval pits, including two brick-lined soakaways,
was noted. Natural brickearth, observed some 1.65 m. below present
ground level was capped by a colourful sequence of burnt and unburnt
clay floors of total thickness 0.30 m., these associated with a Roman
timber building. Roman pottery of first- to third-century date was
relatively plentiful in the spoil excavated from the foundation trenches
and there can be no doubt that a Roman structure existed here.

Deep trenching for even the most modest of new building is becoming
increasingly frequent in the city and this inevitably has drastic implications
for Canterbury's archaeological `resource'. Although the Trust is mindful
that safe foundation design is of the utmost importance, we are
increasingly worried by the degree of destruction that even `minor works'
can cause. With this in mind, we feel it is becoming necessary to
incorporate some form of archaeological work in all schemes for
development, large and small, to ensure a record of archaeological levels
made before they are destroyed.